I've been a fan of Chuck for a long time now. I have met him twice and he's always put on a great show at any of his signings/readings. Although he is most famous for Fight Club, my favorite book has to be Rant, it's a great book, written in an obscure (but effective) style.

Has anybody else read any of his books? He is definitely one of my favorite modern authors.

Fight Club happens to be my favourite movie these days, but I still haven't read the book. I looked after it last time I went to a media store but since I forgot the author's name, I was unable to find it... So thank you BTW

I heard somewhere the book was even more violent and crazy than the movie, with lots of narrative ellipses and flashbacks, is that an opinion you share ? Makes me really want to read this book anyway

I find the book better than the movie. In the movie, Tyler Durden is too much this wacky rebellious figure while in the book he is truly evil. It doesn't differ too much but the movie is clearly adapted to target a broader audience and thus hype.

I didn't buy his last book but the rest I do own. I find his writing style, although it tends to become predictable after some books, interesting to read. Of all his books, I think "Survivor" is the one I like most. It at least made me laugh my ass off from time to time (that sure doesn't happen a lot) and gave a nice critical and somewhat controversial but very amusing insight in the best of the USA.

That description... special writing style, interesting characters (as far as I can tell having only watched Fight Club) and stories that makes you laugh here and there remind me a lot of my own favourite author which is Bret Easton Ellis.

Makes me really want to read Palahniuk, I'll give Fight Club book a go to begin with as soon as I can.

I like his writing style, it's modern, he uses some repetitive tricks that work wonderfully well, adds trivia in his writing that is amazing at times and uses short sentences or words occasionally that are like gunshots to the mind. I also like the fact that there is depth to his writing. Some parts of what is written can actually trigger thoughts compared to the too single-layered stories I read from others. I see some of his work as multi-layered, having depth, even when it essentially is just a story.

I liked about all his books up to Haunted. That one felt a bit like him quickly slapping some short stories together to get a book upon the market. It's the weakest I read this far but I guess they can't all be winners. Just don't read translations and go for the original language.

I only read B.E.Ellis' American Psycho and from what I recall, half of it felt like me reading an advertisement page. It was pretty boring with some elements of action in them. Maybe that style was perfect to describe the yup-dom period but it made me decide to never invest money in him again. I might have missed out on something but I didn't feel like wasting more cash on a potential disappointment.

I only read B.E.Ellis' American Psycho and from what I recall, half of it felt like me reading an advertisement page. It was pretty boring with some elements of action in them. Maybe that style was perfect to describe the yup-dom period but it made me decide to never invest money in him again. I might have missed out on something but I didn't feel like wasting more cash on a potential disappointment.

Well, you're not the first person to tell me that when it comes to Ellis He writes foocking long sentences full of useless details, but that's just how he writes, and personally I like it. It's a true change from the classic writing style many authors use with these not-too-long sentences. Ellis' one looks more like he directly transcribes what his character thinks... you know, even when you're talking with someone and focusing on the conversation, there always is a plenty of little things you think to for one second or so. Ellis includes that. I love it.

As for the advertisement stuff, I guess he wants it to be symbolic : to make us readers damn well understand that the characters of his book are mainly interested in trivial details like clothes. He uses it a lot in American Psycho and Glamorama, which is pretty much in the same vein (a lot of crudely told sexual/violent).

Another aspect of his writing that can disgust people is that his books don't really hold a story with initial situation, trigging event and everything to the conclusion. It's more like you take the character and tell a period in his life. Glamorama and The Rules Of Attraction have more of it than the others, and Lunar Park, his lattest at the moment, is the first one with a real story (it's fictionnally autobiographic).

If you ever wanted to give Ellis another try, I'd suggest you Less Than Zero, his very first book, which he wrote before turning 20. It's short, it's fun, it's a perfect example of what he writes, and it's even better to read his unique style when you know the age he was when he wrote it.

I like Ellis as well. I recently read The Informers (which is a movie coming out soon) it's a collection of short stories. it's pretty good. Apparently the movie is horrible because it kills the source material.

Palahniuk style is very modern in the sense that it can be easy to digest. He has a lot of grotesque scenes in his books but his stories, in my opinion, are always very imaginative. Survivor is an amazing book. It was my favorite, then when he released Rant it became my favorite. The style of the oral biography was very interesting and I really liked the characters.

In my opinion he is definitely one of the best writers of this generation.

I like Ellis as well. I recently read The Informers (which is a movie coming out soon) it's a collection of short stories. it's pretty good. Apparently the movie is horrible because it kills the source material.

Haha, by a matter of facts, I'm reading it these days too. Not my favourite one, but it's still nice. You get plenty of characters from other books in this one.

Movies made from Ellis' novels all suck, except The Rules Of Attraction by Roger Avary, in which James Van Der Beek totally kills the sheep role he had back in Dawson. He plays with it, alternating angel and demon faces, and it's great. This movie makes me laugh out loud everytime I watch it.

Back to topic, what are you favourite Palahniuk books outside Fight Club ? Just to know which ones I could read if I like this one first.

I would definitely suggest Survivor, it's a brilliant novel. The whole premise is cool (which I'll leave for you to check out, the less you know going the better the experience.) Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey is one of my favorites, it's written with an amazing style. Choke is awesome...He hasn't written a bad book at all, some are better than others but start with the ones I've listed. Oh, Haunted is awesome too haha, so many to choose from.

"Survivor" for sure, that is a must read. I didn't read the last two so I can't say if he has a better one. I also enjoyed "Diary" pretty much, mainly because art is the subject there and that mostly jibes well with me. "Lullaby" also was a pretty decent read. In fact, if you read one, you'll probably read all.